1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing substances from pre-filled containers. The apparatus is suitable for example for applications in biochemistry, molecular genetics, microbiology, medical diagnostics or forensic medicine.
2. Description of Related Art
In numerous technical fields such as chemistry, biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, medicine or environmental technology it is necessary to analyse, separate, process or react materials containing biological target molecules (e.g. pourable biological samples). For this purpose the liquids or materials are filtered, cooled, heated, broken down into their components, washed or pipetted by various methods and/or treated by other methods. It is often necessary to go through a long and complex sequence of processing steps in order to prepare the biological material. During processing, various reagents are added. Depending on the nature of the analysis or the preparation of the sample, different combinations of reagents are used during the process. Particularly for larger quantities of sample the processing is typically automated. Usually, the reagents needed for the processing are held in pre-filled containers and placed by an operator in an apparatus for automatic sample processing. In order to remove the reagents the apparatus is provided with means for opening the containers—if these have not already been opened during the loading of the apparatus—and for controlled removal. The opening and removal may be done by the same tool, for example by pushing a cannula through a perforatable top of the container and then sucking out the reagent using an external suction device.
A number of variants are known for removing pipettable substances from pre-filled containers. However, the prior art leaves plenty of room for improvement. The objective of the present invention is therefore to construct an apparatus of this kind with a view to improving the processing efficiency and economy.